London Peewee AAA’s win Shanahan

Monday, November 12, 2007

The tournament, which is named after former London Knight and current New York Ranger star Brendan Shanahan, annually draws over a 100 AAA teams from across Ontario and the Northeast United States. The London squad went 3-1 in the round robin with decisive 9-2 and 5-1 victories on the first day of the tournament. They lost their first game on Saturday 4-2 to the North York Rangers. That evening, in a must-win scenario, they took control early and went on to a 10-1 win over the Kanata Blazers. London entered Sunday playing Windsor in the quarterfinal. Backed by solid goaltending, they emerged 4-0 victors. The semi-final match-up against a relentless Sudbury Wolves team saw London squeak out a 4-3 win. A huge save by the London goalie on a penalty shot kept London ahead. In the final, their third game of the day, London faced the Kensington Valley Rebels who had defeated the Toronto Jr. Canadians in their semi-final match-up. Running on adrenalin, London took a lead early and scored three late goals to win 5-1. The combination of team defence (12 goals against in 7 games), scoring prowess and discipline were key contributors in their championship run. A team-first approach, strong leadership from veteran players and great energy from all of the boys resulted in a fun, successful weekend. Congratulations to the team for representing the City of London and the Junior Knights Program so well. The Pee Wee team won 6 of 7 games, including three straight on Sunday to take the title. Congratulations to Coach Dave Robinson, his Assistants and the players on their convincing victory.